Software Maintenance Specialists Company

Software Maintenance Specialists, which provides outsourcing, data processing and systems integration services, said Thursday that it has signed a three-year, $12-million contract to manage the mainframe data processing activities of Varian Associates Inc. Varian, based in Palo Alto, manufactures high-technology systems and components for medical, communications, scientific, industrial and defense markets. The work will be done at Software Maintenance's La Mirada data center.

September 23, 1996 | GREG MILLER, TIMES STAFF WRITER; Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com

Software Maintenance Specialists, a Santa Ana company that provides data processing and other computer services, has been named minority subcontractor of the year by NASA. The award recognizes achievements by minority entrepreneurs and minority-owned subcontractors, NASA officials said. Since 1994, Software Maintenance has handled data processing work for the Rockwell Space Systems Division in Downey as part of a NASA contract.

Software Maintenance Specialists said it has signed a five-year contract worth $25 million to take over the data processing functions of Esprit de Corp., a San Francisco-based manufacturer of women's and children's apparel. The contract replaces an earlier, $3-million agreement in which Software Maintenance Specialists was to manage Esprit's data processing work while the clothing company switched to a newer computer network.

Software Maintenance Specialists in Santa Ana said Monday that it has signed a three-year contract with Esprit to provide the San Francisco-based clothing designer with customized data processing services. Software Maintenance Specialists will computerize Esprit's extensive billing, ordering and inventory statements from its data processing center in La Mirada in Los Angeles County. The company did not disclose the value of the contract.

Rockwell's space systems division will subcontract its data processing to an Orange County computer maintenance company in a move that will mean at least 70 layoffs at Rockwell's headquarters in Seal Beach.

Maintenance Contract: Software Maintenance Specialists Inc., an Irvine company that manages computer systems for other companies, said it has signed a contract to maintain computers for Telematics International Inc., a computer network products maker in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Mike Winder, SMS president, said his company can shave Telematics' computer budget by taking over the operation of its corporate computer system. SMS has contracts with more than 30 companies.

Data Deal: McGaw Inc. is considering a different sort of consolidation. The Irvine-based supplier of intravenous solutions said Monday that it is hooking up with a Santa Ana computer company to consolidate its growing database into a single network that can be easily accessed. The company has already returned its used IBM mainframe.

September 23, 1996 | GREG MILLER, TIMES STAFF WRITER; Greg Miller covers high technology for The Times. He can be reached at (714) 966-7830 and at greg.miller@latimes.com

Software Maintenance Specialists, a Santa Ana company that provides data processing and other computer services, has been named minority subcontractor of the year by NASA. The award recognizes achievements by minority entrepreneurs and minority-owned subcontractors, NASA officials said. Since 1994, Software Maintenance has handled data processing work for the Rockwell Space Systems Division in Downey as part of a NASA contract.

Software Maintenance Specialists, which provides outsourcing, data processing and systems integration services, said Thursday that it has signed a three-year, $12-million contract to manage the mainframe data processing activities of Varian Associates Inc. Varian, based in Palo Alto, manufactures high-technology systems and components for medical, communications, scientific, industrial and defense markets. The work will be done at Software Maintenance's La Mirada data center.

Rockwell Space Systems got a doozy of a request from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 18 months ago: Cut maintenance costs for the space shuttle fleet by 20% or risk losing the contract. The Downey-based division of Rockwell International Corp. decided that one place it could save was on computer costs, which exceed $30 million a year. In a bold step, it decided to buy computing services from an outside firm instead of the corporation's internal computer department.

Software Maintenance Specialists in Santa Ana said Monday that it has signed a three-year contract with Esprit to provide the San Francisco-based clothing designer with customized data processing services. Software Maintenance Specialists will computerize Esprit's extensive billing, ordering and inventory statements from its data processing center in La Mirada in Los Angeles County. The company did not disclose the value of the contract.

Rockwell's space systems division will subcontract its data processing to an Orange County computer maintenance company in a move that will mean at least 70 layoffs at Rockwell's headquarters in Seal Beach.

Software Maintenance Specialists said Monday that it has agreed to provide computer processing services for the Sizzler International Inc. restaurant chain. SMS is a Santa Ana company that specializes in outsourcing, in which a corporation subcontracts its computer system to be managed by an outside party. The outside party uses its expertise to save the corporation money, said Michael Winder, chief executive of SMS.

Maintenance Contract: Software Maintenance Specialists Inc., an Irvine company that manages computer systems for other companies, said it has signed a contract to maintain computers for Telematics International Inc., a computer network products maker in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Mike Winder, SMS president, said his company can shave Telematics' computer budget by taking over the operation of its corporate computer system. SMS has contracts with more than 30 companies.